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MADE IN AMERICA: The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History
Matt Hughes with Michael Malice
(SSE, 2008, 295 pgs., $24)

Matt Hughes, I suppose, is another small-town farm kid made good. The All-American boy? Hmm….maybe. But just like almost everyone else, he got into his share of mischief. This book, an account of one of the more storied careers in the brief history of the UFC, obviously reveals things most people didn’t know before, but it’s just sort of like a field goal that sailed wide right - it misses at being something gripping or intriguing.

Look - like any autobiography that is a product of sudden notoriety, as well as a response to popular culture, there is a certain amount of self-indulgence in this volume. One can tell that there is a healthy dose of ego in the title; after all, whether Hughes is the most dominant champion is clearly debatable. For sure, the book’s jacket is a little misleading; Hughes is a two-time UFC champion, which is notable enough, but he is not a nine-time champion, as the promo implies.

Suffice it to say that this covers a life that, truth be told, is not so remarkable, and wouldn’t really interest a non-MMA fan the way, for example, a biography of Jake LaMotta would grab someone who wasn’t interested in boxing or Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” transcended baseball.

However, the fan of mixed martial arts will find himself exposed to a world where there is usually not a lot of intimate access.

Hughes, who won the UFC’s welterweight crown on a couple of occasions and has since, like everybody else (yawn) moved to the entrepreneurial side of the sport, had an extensive background in amateur wrestling, winning All-America honors twice in college, then competing in events like the ADCC submission wrestling tournament. He then became an assistant wrestling coach at his alma mater, before Monte Cox came calling to get him into MMA. The story of how Cox and MMA legend Pat Miletich played an important role in Hughes’ entry into the sport is interesting indeed, if you’re a Hughes fan.

And there is a chapter that supplies insight regarding Hughes’ first opportunity to fight for a title - against Carlos Newton, which, according to Hughes’ account, he refused to accept because he felt it rightly belonged to Miletich and only followed through with when Miletich gave it his OK. Then there is his recounting of the memorable moment when, caught in a triangle choke that almost numbed him, Hughes suddenly picked up Newton and slammed him to the canvas, rendering him unconscious and giving birth to a new MMA star.

That would seem a heroic triumph, but somehow Hughes doesn’t develop himself as a very sympathetic character, though we know he wants to. And it’s not because he’s exercising some conscious self-awareness or reflection by giving us the unfettered view of things. The fact is, he comes off as kind of disagreeable, and intentionally so, especially with stablemates like Tim Sylvia. A lot of fighters are actually somewhat low-key, preferring to exercising their aggression in the ring or the octagon or the cage or what have you. Hughes seems to have a bit of an aggressive personality to begin with; the type that mandates him to be demonstrative about his manhood. That comes through in the early part of the story. Maybe it’s a product of the kind insecurity and/or natural competitiveness that comes with having a twin brother who’s into some of the same things you are.

And as for additional insight, I’m not sure giving a chart of his fifty phone calls home from Bettendorf (the site of the Miletich camp) is particularly useful. Okay we get it - he’s a family man.

Some readers we’ve heard from call Hughes’ tale “uninspired.” But the realization is that most of the MMA books were written because the timing was right for it to be sold, not because there’s necessarily an extraordinary story to tell.

The high notes? Honestly, we didn’t see an abundance of them. But then again, his life and career, like many, will only be noteworthy until the next two-time champ comes along.

And writes himself a book.